Pilar Dirickson Garrett is a Brazilian-born writer, researcher, and multidisciplinary arts programmer based in Austin and New York.
As a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Art and Art History and the Center for Latin American Visual Studies (CLAVIS) at the University of Texas at Austin, Pilar specializes in the study of nineteenth and twentieth century art and architectural histories of Latin America with a focus on Brazilian exhibition histories, histories of vernacular art and architecture, politics of space, race, and the built environment, and the intersections of the above with 19th and 20th century political discourses. Pilar’s pre-dissertation research has been supported by fellowships from the Graduate School and the College of Fine Arts at UT Austin, as well as by a 2023 Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, awarded through the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies. She is currently the Mellon Fellow in Latin American Art at the Blanton Museum of Art.
Previously, Pilar served as Associate Director of Cinema Tropical, the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States. Through her work with Cinema Tropical she partnered with such cultural organizations as Film at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Museum of Modern Art, Anthology Film Archives, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU, the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute, New York Botanical Garden, Brasil Summerfest and more. Pilar holds an MA in Latin American Studies and Museum Studies from New York University.
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Currently:
Department of Art History / Center for Latin American Visual Studies (CLAVIS), Austin, TX
Doctoral Student
September 2022 - Present
Cinema Tropical, New York, NY
Associate Director
June 2021 - July 2022
Assistant Director
May 2018 - June 2021
From 2018 to 2022, served as Assistant Director and then Associate Director of Cinema Tropical, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media arts organization and the leading presenter, programmer, and promoter of Latin American cinema in the United States.
Founded in 2001 with the mission of distributing, programming and promoting what was to become the biggest boom of Latin American cinema in decades, Cinema Tropical brought U.S. audiences some of the first screenings of films such as Amores Perros and Y Tu Mamá También.
Through a diversity of programs and initiatives, Cinema Tropical is thriving as a dynamic and groundbreaking organization experimenting in the creation of better and more effective strategies for the distribution and exhibition of foreign cinema in this country.
Special Projects:
Veinte por Veinte (20 for 20): Celebrating Cinema Tropical, The Museum of Modern Art New York, NY
Co-producer
August 26 - October 5, 2019
Commemorating the 20th anniversary of Cinema Tropical, the leading presenter of contemporary Latin American filmmaking in the United States, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) presented the special online film series ‘Veinte por veinte (20 for 20): Celebrating Cinema Tropical’ from August 26 – October 5 on MoMA’s Virtual Cinema.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the organization, MoMA presented 20 debut feature films by key Latin American writer-directors whose careers Cinema Tropical has helped champion over the past two decades — films that have never before enjoyed theatrical runs in New York, by now-celebrated artists like Lisandro Alonso (Argentina), Nicolás Pereda (Mexico), Sebastián Silva (Chile), and Dominga Sotomayor (Chile). The exhibition opens with a special Sculpture Garden screening of Matías Piñeiro’s The Stolen Man.
Mexico on the Hudson: An Online Film and Conversation Series, Cinema Tropical, New York, NY
Producer
June 15 - 29, 2021
The CUNY Mexican Studies Institute and Cinema Tropical presented the special online film and conversation series “Mexico on the Hudson” from June 15 to 29 in celebration of the Mexican community in New York City by spotlighting the success of recent films including the Mexican Oscar candidate I’m No Longer Here by Fernando Frías, the Independent Spirit Award nominee I Carry You With Me by Heidi Ewing, and the Sundance winner Son of Monarchs by Alexis Gambis.
The series featured free virtual screenings of three key films — La Ciudad (1998) by David Riker, En el Séptimo Día (2018) by Jim McKay, and I’m Leaving Now by Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda (2019) — combined with panel conversations with filmmakers, scholars, and members of the local community to discuss the Mexican experience in New York City, the ways in which it has changed throughout the years, as well as its legacy and ongoing challenges.
TropiChat20: Conversations with Key Latin American Filmmakers, Cinema Tropical, New York, NY
Co-producer
April 6, 2021 - Present
As part of the year-long celebration in honor of the 20th anniversary of Cinema Tropical, the organization presents “TropiChat 20,” a special series of twenty weekly conversations with key Latin American and U.S. Latinx directors and film professionals.
The series kicked off on Tuesday, April 6 with a special conversation with Martín Rejtman, who is one of the key figures of the New Argentine Cinema of the late nineties and early aughts, a major source of inspiration and insight for the Latin American film renaissance that followed.
Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema, Film at Lincoln Center, New York, NY
Co-producer
March 31 - April 12, 2021
Now in its sixth year, Neighboring Scenes is Film at Lincoln Center's wide-ranging showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema, highlighting impressive recent productions from across the region. This selective slate of premieres exhibits the breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches employed by Latin American filmmakers today, and spans a wide geographic range, featuring established auteurs as well as fresh talent from the international festival scene.
This year’s edition of the festival kicked off a series of events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cinema Tropical, the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S., with a special screening of Silvia Prieto (1999), the landmark film by Argentine director Martín Rejtman.
Tropical On Demand: The Cinema Tropical Collection, Cinema Tropical, New York, NY
Producer
Virtual Streaming Service
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reshuffling of the film world, Cinema Tropical developed The Cinema Tropical Collection, a new and exciting initiative that made select Latin American films available digitally for the first time ever.
Combining the format of a curated online film series with virtual Q&As with the directors, plus VOD distribution, The Cinema Tropical Collection presents U.S. and international audiences with meaningful and relevant Latin American films in their world digital premiere.
Veredas: A Generation of Brazilian Filmmakers, Film at Lincoln Center, New York, NY
Co-producer
December 6 - 11, 2019
‘Veredas: A Generation of Brazilian Filmmakers’ showcased work from a vast and influential generation that has indelibly left its mark on the local and international film circuit. These often subversive films challenged boundaries of genre, form, gender, class, race, identity, and even processes of distribution. All of these changes can be attributed to the radical decentralization of Brazilian film production, no longer confined to the major cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. ‘Veredas’ highlighted this cinematic new wave and presented a vision of Brazil that is at long last reflective of the country’s continental diversity.
Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx, New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
Co-producer of ‘Cinema Brasileiro Film Series’
June 2019 - September 2019
In partnership with the New York Botanical Garden on the occasion of their cornerstone exhibition ‘Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx,’ Cinema Tropical presented a curated program of critically-acclaimed narrative films and documentaries that explored thee themes central to Burle Marx’s creative life and times. Running from June through September 2019, the program supported several films in their North American premieres and brought select filmmakers to present their films in New York.
Brasil Summerfest: Music & Arts Festival, New York, NY
Co-producer of Brasil Summerfest Film Program
July 2018 | July 2019
Since its launch in 2011, Brasil Summerfest has offered North American audiences a taste of the energy that fuels Brazil, becoming the largest and most important international Brazilian music festival in the world. The festival, produced by People Time Entertainment, showcases the finest selection of Brazilian music: ranging from traditional to contemporary, the featured artists are connected by their ability to evoke the emotions of Brazil and conjure the energy of Brazil’s best parties. Recently, the two week-long festival has expanded to include film, food, art and talks, making it a true display of contemporary Brazilian culture. Brasil Summerfest’s mission is to keep pushing cultural boundaries, spreading Brazil’s contagious fever to the broader New York public and beyond.
INDOCUMENTALES/UNDOCUMENTARIES: An Itinerant Film and Conversation Series, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), NYU, New York, NY
Program Manager
July 2018 - November 2019
Founded in 2010 with a particular focus on US/Mexico immigration, NYU's ongoing program INDOCUMENTALES/UNDOCUMENTARIES: An Itinerant Film and Conversation Series matured to explore the full multiplicity of Latin American migrant experiences in the United States through producing a platform for the exhibition of relevant narrative and documentary films in concert with post-screening panel discussions meant to bring together filmmakers, academics, policy makers, community members, and the public. The program operated as a collaborative project between NYU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Cinema Tropical, and What Moves You? / World Council of People for the United Nations.
Visionary Aponte: Art and Black Freedom, Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Miami, FL; King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU, New York, NY; Duke University, Durham, NC
Curatorial Assistant
November 2017 - January 2018
‘Visionary Aponte: Art and Black Freedom’ brought together twenty contemporary artists working across a range of media to interpret an extraordinary — and now lost — historical artifact: a so-called ‘Book of Paintings’ created by José Antonio Aponte, a free black carpenter, artist, and former soldier who was also the leader of an ambitious antislavery movement in Cuba during the Age of Revolution. During the trial, Aponte was forced to describe his book in detail. Its pages portrayed lush landscapes and Biblical stories; Roman goddesses and Spanish kings; black men as warriors, emperors, and librarians; Rome and Ethiopia; Havana and the heavens. Shortly after testifying, Aponte was publicly executed, his head severed from his body, and placed on a pike inside a cage in a well-travelled crossroads in the city. Then, his “Book of Paintings” disappeared. Using Aponte’s trial testimony — the only record left of the ‘Book of Paintings’ — the artists included in Visionary Aponte reimagined Aponte’s book for our present, experimenting with ways to mitigate the violence of the colonial archive and inviting us to think about the role of art and history in shaping social and political change.
Partners:
* Cinema Tropical
* Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, NYU
* Institute of Latin American Studies, Columbia University
* Mexican Studies Institute, CUNY
* The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
* Film at Lincoln Center
* Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
* Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI)
* New York Botanical Gardens
* Anthology Film Archives
* Brasil Summerfest
* Chiara Clemente Films
* Mary Jane Marcasiano Studio
* Tancha Dirickson Studio
* more
Education:
MA Latin American Studies with Concentration in Museum Studies
New York University, 2018
BA History with Honors
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2015
Research Interests:
Nineteenth and twentieth-century art, architecture, and material culture of Latin America (emphasis on Brazil); postwar exhibition histories; politics of collecting and display; comparative histories of modernism; postcolonial theory; politics of space, race, and the built environment; rhetorics of nationalism and regionalism; histories of vernacular art, architecture, and design; histories of political thought; histories of the modern museum.
Recent Pieces:
Commentary on: A IDADE DA PEDRA by ANA VAZ, corrient.es, April 15, 2020.
Academic:
Master’s Thesis: Innovation to Maintain: Pinacoteca, MASP, and the Fall of Race from Brazilian National Cosmology, 1905-1950.
Honor’s BA Thesis: A Natural Brilliance: Brazil’s Museu Nacional and the Nineteenth-Century Pursuit of National Consciousness.